Thursday, August 20, 2015

Book Spotlight and Giveaway - The Forgotten Flapper: A Novel of Olive Thomas by Laini Giles

Publication Date: August 1, 2015Publisher: Sepia StoriesPublishing
Formats: eBook & Trade PaperbackPages: 411Genre: Historical Fiction/BiographicalA presence lurks in New York City’s New Amsterdam Theatre when the lights go down and the audience goes home. They say she’s the ghost of Olive Thomas, one of the loveliest girls who ever lit up the Ziegfeld Follies and the silent screen. From her longtime home at the theater, Ollie’s ghost tells her story from her early life in Pittsburgh to her tragic death at twenty-five.After winning a contest for “The Most Beautiful Girl in New York,” shopgirl Ollie modeled for the most famous artists in New York, and then went on to become the toast of Broadway. When Hollywood beckoned, Ollie signed first with Triangle Pictures, and then with Myron Selznick’s new production company, becoming most well known for her work as a “baby vamp,” the precursor to the flappers of the 1920s.After a stormy courtship, she married playboy Jack Pickford, Mary Pickford’s wastrel brother. Together they developed a reputation for drinking, club-going, wrecking cars, and fighting, along with giving each other expensive make-up gifts. Ollie's mysterious death in Paris’ Ritz Hotel in 1920 was one of Hollywood’s first scandals, ensuring that her legend lived on.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A native of Austin, Texas, Laini Giles grew up the daughter of bookworms, and became a Nancy Drew devotee early on. When she realized there might be no escape from hairy tarantulas and bad guys with guns, she put her detective dreams on hold and wrote about them instead, finishing her first mystery novel with custom illustrations when she was eight. It was this love of mystery combined with a love of old MGM musicals and The Marx Brothers that led her to check Kenneth Anger’s Hollywood Babylon out of the library during her formative years. Ideas began to simmer.A graduate of the University of North Texas, she put the writing on hold for a while when real life got in the way (i.e.—she met and married her Canadian husband and headed north for maple-flavored goodies and real beer). She highly recommends moving to another country and not being able to work for a year for finishing any novels you may have laying around.Laini and her husband live in Edmonton, Alberta with their three gray girl cats, nicknamed The Supremes.For more information visit Laini Giles' website and blog. You can also find her on Twitter and Goodreads.GIVEAWAYOne lucky winner will receive an eBook of The Forgotten Flapper.Rules– Must be 18 or older to
enter.– Only one entry per household.– All giveaway
entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is
decided upon by
blog/site
owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our
discretion.a Rafflecopter giveaway

11 comments:

My daughter and I can't wait to reaf this , the first book in the series.I think it's such a great topic. Thanks for being part of the Tour and giving bus the opportunity to win.Carol LLucky4750 (at) aol (dot) com

I am interested in this book, because Mary Pickford was a Canadian, whose real name was Gladys Smith. Cousins of her and Jack lived on a farm near the Hamilton airport. They gave a signed hand-coloured picture of her to my dad. This novel has a good story line.

The generation of the Flapper was one of much excitement. I am sure this book will provide some great information for those of us who were not alive during that time. Thanks for this opportunity to enter for a copy. robeader53@yahoo.com

About Me

Trish is a long-time online seller who loves all things vintage, but especially vintage children's books and ephemera. In other lives, worked as a bookstore manager and preschool teacher. Always pursuing vintage treasures, great reads, interesting words, and happiness.